Chrono Cross Switcharoo
by SeekingRedemption
Summary: What would happen if Serge and Kid switched places? Updated-Chapter Four: A Bellflower for Dario
1. Rendezvous at Opassa

Beta work by Slashapalooza—thanks, Slashy! In short, Kid and Serge's roles are switched. Yeah. You may remember someone publishing a remarkably similar story. Truth is, she got tired of it and handed it over to me for revising. So I did. So...yeah. Chrono Cross belongs to Square-Enix, and Adam belongs to the former authoress (Suki).

Chrono Cross Switcharoo

Chapter One: Rendezvous at Opassa

Silence filled the room around her, pierced only by her own soft breathing. Something dripped against the floor near the body, but the drops became muffled as the pool of blood extended over the harsh metal floor.

She felt the warm liquid seep through her shoes, the iron smell pervading her nostrils. This was terrible. Why had this happened? How had this happened? And...why did it seem like...she liked it? She looked down at the dagger clutched in her hand in a death grip. There was an unmistakable red stain along its blade—a red liquid that dripped steadily into the growing pool. So, she had done this...how perplexing. Strangely enough, she felt no remorse.

She walked in front of the boy's face, bending and looking down at him. He was good-looking, for the most part. His sun-tanned face had become pale in the heart of death, however, and blood had stained some of the blue strands that hung down over his face.

She shrugged. No, he was too far gone. Perhaps she would be merciful this day. Her gloved hand wrapped around a few of those interesting blue strands and pulled, separating his cheek from the sticky substance on the floor. She positioned the dagger at his throat. And so it would end.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Kid jerked awake in a cold sweat, shivering in the chill night wind that swept through Arni Village. The dream had come again. So many times she had stood there, watching that strange boy die. So many times she had helped it along in the flash of a bloodstained blade...

'I need help,' she thought to herself flatly, standing and going to the window. 'Why can't I stop worrying about this? That boy probably doesn't even exist...and even if he does, it's not like I'd ever get the chance to meet someone like him. He looks like he's got the potential to be a famous star somewhere far away.' Kid shook her head. It wasn't as if she even wanted to kill anyone, and if she did, well...she certainly wouldn't react the way she had in the dream.

She settled back into bed, listening to the chirping of the few wandering Komodo dragons that had strayed from Lizard Rock. It was little use lingering on what was impossible, she decided. But Kid had all the trouble in the world getting back to sleep that night.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Kid!"

Ah. The first noise to break the morning silence. Kid rolled over, almost inhaling her long blond hair, and blinked dazedly. Did she really want to get up? She thought about it. 'No.'

"KID!"

The second shout rattled the pans in the kitchen. Kid paused on the verge of rolling over again. "What?" she called down half-heartedly.

"I've been calling you for five minutes now! You can either get down here or I can come up there!"

Kid groaned drowsily, the back of her hand hitting the floor with a crack as she grudgingly rolled toward the sunlight. "Ouch," she muttered as the pain traveled up her arm. It was little wonder that her father was getting her up all the time. Kid's father, Wazuki, had made the decision to try to fill the spaces of both parents after his wife died so long ago. As a result, Kid was waking up every day at seven, and not liking it one bit.

"What's the rush?" she asked when she came downstairs after dressing. She stuck a cloth in her teeth and went through the mechanical movements of braiding her hair as she sat down at the kitchen table.

"Your cousin wanted to see you," Wazuki told her, "and you shouldn't sleep in all the times you do." He set down a plate of toast.

Kid frowned at it, tying the cloth tightly around her braid. "Coffee does the job just as well."

Wazuki frowned at her, but poured her a cup. "Adam was with her," he added to his previous comment.

Kid smacked herself in the forehead. "Dad!" she groaned. She had entertained a short-term crush on Adam a few years ago, but that had died once she figured out he was physically inept, not very sexy, and unable to handle even menial tasks. Wazuki, however, was still convinced that Kid and Adam would share a happy life together sometime in the near future.

"Anyway, Leena wants to talk to you as soon as she can," Wazuki explained, pouring himself some coffee.

Kid paused to consider that, and then began nibbling at her toast.

It was moments later that Wazuki kicked her out of the house, and Kid had little choice but to meet Leena and Adam at the pier. Adam was a fairly attractive young man with short blond hair and the green eyes that held a smaller amount of the light of knowledge. Kid found the two engaged in a rather passionate kiss that had transfixed the children whom Leena was supposed to be babysitting. "Morning, Leena," she greeted her cousin in a clipped tone.

"Oh—oh, right," Leena realized, quickly untangling herself from Adam. "Adam here was going to get me some Komodo dragon scales—"

"Naturally."

"—And I need someone to go with him to make sure he doesn't get hurt." Leena shot Kid a pointed look.

"Don't look at me," Kid told her sharply, turning away.

Leena frowned. "Do you remember how Belcha's countertop was mysteriously coated over with blue paint last week—"

"All right! All right! I'll do it!" Kid said in a resigned voice. "But you'd better keep your mouth shut."

"Oh, yeah, I remember that, too!" Adam told Leena. "Who do you think did it?"

The girls stared at him.

"I guess you can say the secret's safe with me," Leena replied, shooting Adam a doubtful look. Kid could just see the second thoughts sprouting up in her cousin's mind. "Uh—so, right, Adam, you go with Kid and get me those Komodo dragon scales. Okay?"

"Sure thing." Adam couldn't conceal the smile that spread over his face. Kid had learned fairly soon that Adam had taken a fancy to her since she wore such revealing clothing.

"Whatever, let's just go," Kid groaned, starting off.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Scree!" the Komodo dragon chirped in a panic as it took a sharp turn and kept running. Kid knifed along the ground after it, and a flustered Adam ran headlong into the coral nearby. Ignoring him, Kid continued to race after the Komodo dragon, but missed the rock in front of her. She let out a yelp as she tripped, but seized the dragon on the way down, tumbling with it to the end of the incline.

"Gotcha!" she exclaimed triumphantly as the Komodo dragon continued to chirp wildly. She held it still, searching for the one scale. On each Komodo dragon was a single scale that glimmered like the surface of the sea; the problem with obtaining that scale was that the positioning was different for every Komodo dragon. Kid successfully located that scale on the Komodo dragon's chest, and, with a quick yank, dislocated it.

"SCREE!" the Komodo dragon half-screamed as the scale came off. Kid released it into the water and took out a cloth to clean up the green, pus-like fluid on the underside of the scale. It had a very nice shape, almost that of a raindrop. Leena would be pleased with it.

"That's all of them," Kid told Adam as he rejoined her, sticking the scale inside a pouch they'd brought along. After Adam managed to lose the first two scales, it had been decided that Kid would carry them.

Adam let out a sigh of relief. But just then his eyes met the pair that were behind Kid. "Um...um...um...um..." he began to murmur ceaselessly.

Kid gave him a funny look, but her expression changed as she followed his gaze. Behind her was a full grown, mother Komodo dragon. It was a dragon who had just witnessed the persecution of a young Komodo dragon, and who was present, no doubt, for revenge. "Look out!" Adam shouted suddenly, knocking Kid out of the way as the dragon's tail swished towards them. Kid landed safely in the water, but the heavy knob of the tail came down on Adam's back with a thud. Adam groaned softly and dropped to the ground.

"Damn!" Kid muttered, climbing to her feet. The dragon bellowed, raising one foot high in the air. Kid seized Adam's arms and tugged him out of the way before the foot could come down on his head. "Hey!" she shouted at the dragon, waving her arms and leading it away from Adam. Although, she admitted to herself, she wasn't entirely sure what she was going to do.

But Komodo dragons were quick, even as adults, and Kid soon found herself running for more than just Adam's life. She darted up a thick, rope-like plant and up onto a ledge. The mother Komodo dragon let out a subdued bellow and, giving up on Kid, turned to get Adam. Kid shouted again, throwing rocks at the dragon until it turned around. Kid, now full of the thrill of the moment, then wiggled her backside provokingly, all the while sticking out her tongue and pulling down her left eyelid. This seemed to send the dragon into a rage, and it charged, slamming its head into the base of the ledge.

Kid lost her balance, falling back against the ground, and managed to grab the edges just before she fell off. "Whoa..." she murmured, this time staying crouched so as to keep from falling.

The dragon was losing patience, and this time reared up on its back legs, slamming its forelegs onto the ledge so that Kid was in range. Without thinking about it, Kid brought a fist down on the dragon's head.

Blinking dazedly, the dragon slid back down and glowered up at her, letting out angry bellows. Kid looked down at it, trying to get her mind to focus. What was it that Kiki's grandfather had mentioned about mother Komodo dragons? About their weak point? It was just as the dragon reared up a second time that Kid remembered: the weak point was in the back of their neck! That made sense, since the Komodo dragons had that array of pointed spikes around their head.

Kid stepped up on the dragon's head—" 'Scuse me,"—and plunged a fist into the tender skin of its neck. The dragon let out a groan and sank to the ground.

Kid stepped down, feeling immensely proud of herself. Not only had she saved  
Adam and herself, but she had also managed to escape the dragon without killing it. "You'll thank me when you wake up," she said to it, patting the tough skin of its head. "You have a lot to learn about mercy." Just then she remembered something else...something about mercy...what was it again?

"Kid? Are you all right?" Adam asked as he approached her, rubbing his back and grimacing.

"Fine. More importantly, how's your back?" Kid asked him, dismissing all thought of her mysterious recollection.

"Could be better," Adam admitted. "But it shouldn't be too serious. Is that thing dead?"

"Just unconscious," Kid told him.

"Are you crazy?! That thing's dangerous! We have to get rid of it!"

"You worry too much. Come on—Leena's waiting."

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Kid walked out onto the beach, her arms spread wide. "Beautiful, beautiful Opassa," she said simply for the sake of saying it. It was repeated almost like a chant in Arni. But it was only a way of masking her sudden, irrational fear. She could still remember how that fear had originated, now as she sat down quickly, feeling safer against the waves that brushed up against the beach. She could remember how she had loved the sea, back then...how she had run along the beach, swerving time after time into those cerulean waters. Then had come that day when Wazuki was summoned aside, and had left her with a friend to watch her. But the friend was not a reliable one, and was still single, and so Kid soon found herself alone by the beach, save her friends, who were no older than she was.

She then had become a victim of the undertow, talking with Leena and Adam for a long time, floating gently in the water. Suddenly Kid couldn't touch bottom—there had been a panic, and Leena and Adam made it back to firm sand.

Kid, however, was being pulled further and further out to sea, with only the cries of the other two to accompany her. She struggled—she started sinking, kicking futilely and struggling to rise above the waves that were pushing her head under. She went down one foot, then another, then another, until she couldn't be sure how far down she really was. Her nose and mouth were filled with water, and her eyes were shut tightly. But it seemed to her that she would die soon—her life had flashed before her eyes, all six years of it—and then she looked up one more time, seeing the sun glimmering through the shifting water. It seemed like something had eclipsed the sun then—too big to be a cloud, but not circular enough to be the moon. And then...then she didn't remember much. Only waking up much later, feeling drained and tasting salt.

"You still remember what happened ten years ago?" Adam guessed, setting a comforting hand on her shoulder.

Kid nodded mutely. But her eyes came back into focus as Adam's hand slid down to her waist. "Stop it," she told him harshly, pushing his hand away.

"What? What did I do?"

Kid stood, brushing the sand from her skirt. "Leena and I may not always get along, but she's still my cousin, and my friend, and you're going to be faithful to her for as long as you're together."

"Or what?"

Kid rested her hand on her dagger's handle threateningly.

"Adam?"

The two of them turned, Adam looking strained and Kid with her hand still on her dagger. "All yours," Kid told her shortly. But she raised her eyebrows warningly at Adam before she walked away.

Kid sat down, leaning against the coral as she watched Leena happily receive the scales. She took out her dagger and looked at it for a few moments, remembering something connected with it...something she just couldn't quite pull into focus. Her mind seemed to slow down as she idly traced a circle on her leg, watching the small white line that followed the edge of the dagger.

She slowly began to push it a little harder with each rotation, almost without realizing it. The white line began to disappear more slowly, and more slowly still, until it turned into a full-fledged scratch—but a scratch that had not yet broken the skin. She felt the dagger pass through her skin suddenly, and felt blood welling up around the area. Her first reaction would have been to pull the dagger out at once and study the seriousness of the mark...but something in the back of her mind stopped her.

'You see?' came a voice that was not hers, whispering in the depths of her mind. 'It doesn't hurt you. It can never hurt you.'

Kid slowly realized that the voice was right...there was no pain. Why don't you go a little deeper? That seemed right—a little deeper. Why not? It couldn't hurt her. She pressed a little harder, felt the dagger go a little deeper into her leg. It still wasn't far enough to be serious...and it still didn't hurt. Tentatively, she pressed a little deeper. Something else in her mind was going on, shouting at her. What are you doing?! Why are you doing this?! This isn't right!

But Kid ignored this one, listening to the voice that still wanted her to go a little deeper. And suddenly the dagger wasn't going into her leg any longer—it was passing through the body of someone in front of her. It was the boy, she remembered now. The boy from her dream. She could see his eyes now, blue eyes, just like hers. Living eyes. Eyes that stared at her in horror as the dagger continued its painfully slow journey through him.

"No!" Kid shouted suddenly, pulling the dagger away. Her breath coming fast, she looked down at her leg, expecting to see the deep cut she had just given herself. But there was only the white, circular scratch, almost invisible against her skin. The dagger, however, was bloodstained almost halfway through. Kid could only stare at it, feeling somehow that that was not her blood...that was someone else's. A strange sense of déjà vu swept over her as she saw a single droplet fall onto the beach.

"Kid?" Leena called from the other side of the beach, where she and Adam were standing. "We're getting ready to go. Coming?"

Kid quickly hid the dagger behind her back. "Sure—sure, just a second." She stood and went to the water to wash off the dagger, pausing when she realized the dagger was no longer bloodstained. All the same, she drenched it in water up to the hilt, and ran her glove along the blade to get off any excess of the seemingly illusionary blood.

/Kid.../

Kid frowned and looked behind her. That hadn't sounded like Leena's voice...was that a boy's voice? But it couldn't be Adam, he was standing over there with Leena...

/Kid.../

"Who's there?" she called haltingly, looking around more frantically.

"Kid?" Leena called again. "What's wrong?"

"I don't know..." Kid stopped suddenly, looking back at the edge of the water. There was what looked like a shadow of a boy...but then he was gone. What was going on?

"Kid, you're getting further out!" Adam called to her.

Kid looked down to see that the water, which had been only up to her knees a moment ago, was now just below her chest. The last wave pulled her a little further out, and firm ground floated away from her. Again, she couldn't touch bottom. Panic washed over her as memories guided her movements. She had to get over to the shallow water...but already she was spitting out the water that was getting into her mouth.

She turned around, seeing the next wave come in. It seemed to grow imperceptibly, and something else flashed back to her. Memories of running, screaming, as blood ran down her shoulders and legs, knowing that black death followed close behind her. She blinked, and then the wave hit her in the forehead, hard. She collapsed, sinking, and blacked out.

It seemed like moments later that she was awake again, with Adam and Leena sitting on either side of her. Both were waterlogged, as Kid realized she must be as well. But they weren't the only ones there. A face, strangely blurred, also looked down at her, transparent enough to show the sun behind it. The effect was for the owner to look strangely like an angel.

"Kid? Kid, are you okay?" Leena was saying, but the words didn't penetrate Kid's faltering consciousness. Maybe it was an illusion, but it seemed to Kid that there were strange, light-blue strands of light coming up from the ground around her, reaching up as far as the eye could see. There was a breeze coming from...below her? But that didn't make sense...

A second wave came in, reaching all the way to the coral...and yet it didn't touch her. Everything around her seemed to have gone black, or just not the color it was supposed to be. Leena and Adam were no longer moving, frozen, staring at her through discolored eyes. But the transparent figure was still wavering with breath. Kid struggled, but she could not make it come into any better focus.

Color returned to her surroundings, and she felt strangely weak. But the figure above her had solidified, and she could now tell it was the boy...the same boy that had been the shadow on the beach. But she still couldn't see his face. It seemed like he smiled at her, and then calmly walked away down the beach.

Kid turned over, trying to see where he went, but then the weakness pulled her down. The light faded from her eyes as she lay still on Opassa Beach.

A/N: I made Adam a little more heroic—about as heroic as a perverted incompetent can be—and I plan to have a much more inclusive relationship between Kid and Leena. As opposed to Kid running around and saving the world while Leena perpetually watches the kids at the dock. To continue, please insert one review. Thanks for reading!


	2. Hope Becomes Despair

I would've updated yesterday, only my computer malfunctioned and we had a thunderstorm. I'm lucky I didn't wipe out everything on here. Replies are at the end of the chapter.

Chrono Cross Switcharoo

Chapter Two: Hope Becomes Despair

"Scree?"

Kid slowly opened her eyes to see the Komodo dragon pup above her. She blinked a few times, dismissed the image as a dream, and rolled over to get away from the sunlight. Any minute now, Wazuki would call her to get up and she'd have to face another day of growing boredom. Until school started up again, there would be nothing to do all summer long.

But as she yawned sleepily, she also took in almost a pint of sand. With a muffled shout, she got up on her hands and knees and spat out as much as she could.

"Oh, thank goodness!" someone said from beside her. "For a moment, I was afraid you were a dead body washed ashore."

Kid stood and looked up at the person, clawing the rest of the sand off her tongue. She recognized the woman as one of the elderly residents of Arni. "Are Leena and Adam around here?" she asked, noting that neither of them seemed around.

"Hm." The woman frowned. "I'm not sure about Adam, but I think Leena is in the village at the pier. Why? Are you a friend of theirs?"

Kid gave her a funny look. "Uh...yeah, I'm a friend," she said finally. 'Must be the Alzheimer's.'

"The village is just past Lizard Rock. Take care not to get yourself hurt," the old woman told her.

Kid watched her go, frowning. The Komodo dragon had paused to look at her for a moment, cocking its head to one side in what seemed like confusion. It was then that Kid noticed the shimmering scale on its chest—a scale in the shape of a raindrop. At least it looked like a raindrop—but before Kid could get a closer look, the dragon hurried along after the woman.

She shrugged. She must be dreaming things. Maybe she never did get up that morning...didn't she and the others have a party out here last night? That seemed right. But she didn't remember any alcohol and her head was throbbing for some reason. But then, there could very well have been, knowing Belcha. Maybe Leena and the scales were all just a dream. Which meant, Kid realized with a sigh, that she would have to bear Adam as they went through that whole procedure.

The journey through Lizard Rock was quick and uneventful, if not for the fact that there seemed to be an unusual amount of other creatures about. But when she stepped into Arni Village, something didn't seem quite the same. Maybe it was the different decorations on Belcha's restaurant, or maybe it was that no one seemed to be wearing the same clothing as that morning, or maybe...maybe it was the way the sea twinkled in the sunlight, seeming almost to harbor a secret all its own.

"Hello, stranger, and welcome to our humble village of Arni," Faron said to her at the entrance. Kid waited for him to focus his eyes and recognize her, but he didn't. "Hope you enjoy your stay," he called after her as she walked away, glancing back at him with a confused frown.

She found Adam seconds later, sitting on a nearby bench with another girl in his arms. Her eyes narrowed. "Adam!" she shouted at him. "I thought I warned you about cheating on Leena!"

Adam stared at her. "What—?"

"Who is this?" the girl beside him demanded harshly. "I told you to keep your eyes on me where they belong!"

"No, no, Kani, I don't know who this is—!"

But Kani was shaking her head. "I'll see you at the restaurant tonight, and you'd better have an explanation!"

Adam looked from Kid to Kani and back to Kid as Kani stalked away. "What'd you do that for?" he demanded of Kid, but he couldn't hide the interested once-over he gave her.

"Keep your eyes on my face, Adam," Kid told him sharply. "Leena must hate it when you do this! You told her and that you would stay faithful!"

"What, Leena? Oh, you must be an old friend of hers." Adam blew out of the side of his mouth, waving a hand dismissively. "We broke up years ago. She decided I was too 'untrustworthy,'" he explained in a slightly derisive tone, curling his fingers into quotes on the last word.

Kid raised an eyebrow. "Uh-huh. If things weren't getting weird around here, I wouldn't believe you, but I'm going to see what Leena has to say first."

"Knock yourself out," Adam told her simply, heading for Belcha's restaurant.

Leena was, of course, on the pier, watching a group of kids who looked strangely different from the ones that had been there that morning. "Leena?" Kid called to her, for some reason believing that Leena wouldn't recognize her. But she shook her head. Adam was just stupid. Of course Leena would recognize her—they were cousins; they'd grown up together.

"Oh, hi there," Leena replied, smiling. Kid breathed a sigh of relief. "Um...do I know you?" Leena added then, frowning and putting her index finger to her chin the way she always did when she was confused.

"Oh no, not you too...!"

"What?"

Kid seized her by the shoulders. "Why don't you remember me? I'm Kid—I'm your cousin! I live right next door!"

"How do you know about Kid?" Leena demanded suddenly, pushing her away.

"What do you mean 'how do I know'? I AM Kid, Leena!"

"I don't know who you are," Leena said darkly, "but you aren't the Kid I knew! She...she..." Leena quickly wiped away a tear and turned a glare on Kid. "The Kid who was my cousin died ten years ago, okay! And she died because of me! So don't you try and tell me any different!"

"She...died...?" Kid said slowly, sinking to the boards of the pier. "...What...what happened to her...?"

"I..." Leena turned away. "We were playing in the ocean, and we...we got pulled into the undertow. When we realized how far away we were, Adam and I managed to get back...but Kid...Kid couldn't get away. Adam got scared and wanted to get the adults...but I thought she could make it if we both tried to pull her back..." Leena blinked again and held her eyes shut tightly. "Kid drowned ten years ago because I didn't want to get the adults...because I thought nothing could go wrong...I thought she couldn't...couldn't die..." Her eyes seemed to come back into focus, and she laughed brokenly. "Why am I telling you this? I'm sorry, I really am. I shouldn't have blown up like that, but...I've lived with that guilt for ten years, and I don't need people like you to show up and try to act like it never happened."

Kid was slowly shaking her head. "I don't understand...one minute we're all at Opassa Beach, the next, I'm...dead...?"

Leena's temper flared a second time. "You really think you're Kid, don't you? What kind of proof do you need? Go look at her house! Her father died, and no one's lived there for seven years! Go look at Cape Howl, where her grave is...!" Leena's voice broke. "Don't you tell anyone in the village that you're Kid. You'll only upset them. We all know she's dead, and there's nothing you can do about it."

"I..." Kid stood, shaking her head more firmly as tears came to her eyes. "I don't believe you!" she shouted, and ran down the pier. No...how could she be dead? She wasn't a ghost—people could see her—and she couldn't be a reincarnation, or she wouldn't remember any of this. But could she have died...could something have gone wrong...?

Her house was empty, caked over with dust. Toys lay around on the floor—the toy duck that had lost its beak when she was three years old, a rattling canister that was so filled with dust it wouldn't work again, and a teddy bear with only one eye. The kitchen table had collapsed—the kitchen table where Kid and Wazuki had shared breakfast just that morning.

"This can't be happening..." Kid murmured softly, collapsing into a chair and watching the dust that sprang up from the movement. "This can't be happening...this can't be happening...this can't be happening..." she whispered to herself over and over, clutching a half-fallen apart fish plushie—her favorite—as she rocked back and forth, hugging her knees to her chest.

The plushie...she had lost it only a few years after she almost drowned. She looked at it for a few moments, remembering the pretty pebble she had placed inside it, remembering every rip and tear in its silvery skin. Her eyes began to fill with tears, and she felt very much like a very lost little girl.

"Dad..." she said softly, resting her face on her knees and letting the plushie fall to the floor. "Daddy...where are you...?"

-

"Hey," came a voice not too far away. Kid lifted her head, blinking a few times. Had she been sleeping? "Wake up," the voice continued. "It's almost evening, and you need to find a place to stay."

Kid groaned, letting her legs down from the chair and massaging her aching back. Sleeping in that position had not helped her. She blinked again, and brushed some dust off her head. "Leena," she recognized the girl in front of her. "What are you doing here?"

"I was going to ask you the same thing," Leena said to her.

Kid stood up, walking around the room as memory and pain slowly returned to her. She had vaguely realized that something was wrong, but as she looked around the house that had been hers, realization hit her hard.

"No!" she shouted suddenly, slamming a fist against the wall. But then she let the fist fall limply, tearing away the dust—erasing it. She paused to consider that for a moment. Her existence, it seemed, had been erased from the world in the form of a young death. It would be so easy...too easy...to make that disappearance complete. Her hand strayed to her dagger's handle for a moment.

"Was Kid a friend of yours?" Leena asked her, but then sighed. "Don't answer that. I know what you're going to say."

Kid didn't answer, still looking at the wall. She laughed suddenly, a small, almost sad laugh. "I remember this," she said slowly, brushing away the dust on a segment of the wall. There were a few crayon marks in larger and larger curved shapes. "You did this."

"What?" Leena frowned, setting her hands on her hips. "I did not!"

"Yes you did," Kid nodded fondly. "We were building rainbows. Remember?"

Leena looked surprised for a moment and then her hands slid to her sides. "Oh yeah!" she said in a hushed voice. "I remember that! You thought we could build rainbows...so I started drawing that one."

"And I..." Kid stifled a giggle.

"You drew rainbows on all of Belcha's best shirts," Leena remembered, "and then tied them to balloons...so that they all floated away!"

The two of them laughed for a minute or two as they recalled how angry Belcha had looked when he found he had only one best shirt left—and one with a messy rainbow all over it.

But when they stopped, Leena suddenly realized something. "I've been acting like you were Kid..." she said sadly. "But...you really seem like her, you know? You even kind of look like her." She frowned, putting her finger to her chin. "Maybe something happened...maybe her spirit got stuck in your body or something."

Kid nodded. It was enough that Leena believed that. She didn't want to push her luck. "I...I still think I want to see that gravestone, just so I know. I don't want to believe this has happened...so maybe if the gravestone isn't there, well..." She looked at Leena. "Maybe that will change something."

It didn't take them long to get to Cape Howl from Arni, and Kid soon found herself climbing up the path that, not too long ago, had not been obstructed by obnoxious briars. "What's taking you so long?" Leena called to her from near the edge.

"I'll be there in a second." Kid paused and tugged on the briar in her ankle. "Ow...ow..." she muttered, and let out a small yelp as the briar came loose. "Coming!" she called up to Leena, taking care to step over the next briar patch. But one still managed to get stuck in her thigh on the way over.

"You kinda have to get used to those," Leena told her as Kid attacked the briar.

"They weren't here this morning," Kid muttered.

Having finished with the briars, the two made their way to the stone at the top of Cape Howl. Kid tried to calm down, realizing how tense she had become. If she was right, the stone would have the inscription that Leena and Adam had written so many years ago. But if she was wrong...well...she didn't want to have to think about that.

She bent by the stone to read, her heart sinking as she saw the formally aligned writing.

'Our beloved Kid

Died age six

No one can take anything from her

Nor can anyone give anything to her

What came from the sea

Has returned to the sea'

Kid let out a small moan and rested her forehead against the stone, her eyes closing against the tears that threatened to flood. Leena knelt beside her, laying a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"So you must be Kid, the ghost of the girl who died ten years ago."

Leena tensed and stood, and Kid soon followed the motion. "Dragoons?" Leena murmured. "What are you doing here?"

"We're here for the ghost," the central dragoon explained.

"Ghost? I don't see any ghost. Do you?" Kid asked Leena easily. Might as well give these impolite dragoons a hard time.

"Don't play games with us, missy," the lilac-haired dragoon told her sharply. "I think you know very well who the ghost is."

The taller one beside him was frowning in confusion, however. "Are you sure this is the one? I mean, it would seem like there are a massively massive number of ghosts out there."

The first dragoon rolled his eyes. "Solt, do I look like I have time to listen to your ramblings? This is where SHE said we'd find the girl, and this one fits the bill."

"But, Sir Karsh, do we have a shakin' idea what she looks like?" the third dragoon asked.

Karsh sighed. "Fine, I'll humor you." He stepped up to look closer at both Kid and Leena. "Which one of you goes by the name Kid?"

"That would be me," Kid told him, narrowing her eyes.

"Good."

In the next second, Karsh had sent Leena toppling over the side.

"Hey!" Kid shouted, having reached out to try to stop him. "What'd you do that for?"

"Your friends don't much interest us, missy," Karsh told her. "Now you have a choice. You can come with us, or we can hurt you and make you come with us."

Kid glared at him in response.

"Fine." Karsh turned to Solt and Peppor. "Seize her!"

"Hold yer seahorses!"

The group of them looked up at the boy who had spoken. He was standing on a ledge not too far away from them, one blade of his sea swallow resting on the ground. One hand was on his hip, his head cocked to one side so that the wind blew his blue hair out of his eyes. His lips curved into a smirk as he sized up the three dragoons.

"I think I'd like ta have a say in this," he said to them in a cold voice, leaping from his place and landing in front of Kid. He casually began to twirl his sea swallow in a place uncomfortably close to Karsh, and the dragoon backed away towards the others. The boy looked over the edge where Leena had fallen and grimaced sympathetically. "Don't look much like you blokes know how ta treat a lady," he remarked.

"Is there a shakin' thing you're gonna do about it?" the third dragoon asked, taking a would-be menacing step forward.

"Shut up, Peppor."

Peppor stepped back in chagrin. "Sorry, Sir Karsh."

"Listen here, junior," Karsh began, his eyes narrowing. "We have orders to bring in the girl, and if you're gonna get involved you just might get hurt."

"By you?" The boy laughed. "Like hell!"

Karsh let out a growl.

The boy stopped laughing. "If ye're gonna act all tough over it, then why don't ya shut yer blowhole and get on with it?"

"You two get the girl! I'll take care of this idiot!" Karsh barked to Solt and Peppor.

"Yes, sir!"

"At once, sir!"

"Just me and you?" The boy smirked. "Then I'm definitely gonna kick yer arse so hard ya kiss the bloody moons!" He paused a moment. "Hmm...that's a good line."

Nearby them, Kid had taken out her dagger and dealt Solt and Peppor a few side wounds, along with warning facial scratches. The two didn't even have time to attack her before both were in immense pain, and so they were reduced to running about for no purpose. Kid, of course, hadn't wanted to kill them. Warn them not to mess with her, maybe, but not kill them. She wasn't too sure if the boy felt the same way, though. When she looked over at him, he and Karsh were weapon to weapon, both straining to keep the other from striking a fatal blow. It soon became apparent, however, that Karsh was stronger than the boy was. But before Karsh could strike that last blow, the other had released the weapon lock and flipped over him, landing a kick to his back.

"Damn," Karsh muttered, glancing at his Element Grid. "Where are those idiots! Solt must have a Heal—!"

"So you'll take care of the idiot, will ya?" the boy asked him, hoisting the sea swallow up on his shoulder in preparation to throw it. Kid realized in that moment what he was going to do.

"Hey, wait a minute!" she called to him, rushing to his side.

"Sorry, Sir Karsh!" Peppor called back to him as Solt ran screaming down the cape, also letting out unhealthy-sounding groans as he ran into the briar patches. "W-we just want to shake it off and live to fight another day!"

"You come back here!" Karsh shouted at him, running after him. But he stopped before he was too far away and turned to glare at the boy. "This isn't over!"

"Ohhh, scary!" the boy called after him. "Ha! Think I'd lose ta scum like you?" He shook his head. "Losers. So ya didn't want me ta kill him?" he asked Kid, turning to her.

"I—no! Why would you? That's too severe," Kid replied.

"Ye're right. It wasn't worth it," the boy decided. "So yer name's Kid, right? I'm Serge. Nice ta meet ya."

"But, um...thanks for helping me," Kid told him, suddenly feeling strangely shy. Maybe it was because he was a good-looking guy...he reminded her of someone else, someone she thought she'd never meet...oh well. It didn't matter.

"Yeah, well, I couldn't just sit back and watch, ya know?" Serge told her, a slight shade of color coming to his cheeks. "They pissed the bloody hell outta me, and they ain't too polite, neither." He took a few steps closer, his eyes wandering. " 'Sides, ye're awful cute, mate."

Kid very casually took out her dagger and inspected it closely, running her finger suggestively along the wicked curve of the blade. Serge got the hint and backed away, eyebrows raised and his hands up in surrender. He was silent for a moment, looking out over the sea.

"Hey, Kid," he said to her, turning back. "What if we teamed up like, ya know? After all, I'm kinda lost out here in these islands, and ye're just the kinda sweet, vulnerable little girl who might need my help with those blokes."

"I think you'll find out I'm a lot less sweet and vulnerable than you might think," Kid retorted.

"The tougher the merrier," Serge said with a shrug. "If we gotta beat up a bunch of people after ya, it'll be easier if ye're not a wuss."

"Well, I just don't know...about joining up, I mean," Kid said to him. "There's something...that bothers me."

"Somethin' 'bout me?" Serge asked her, checking for body odor.

"It's just...I feel like I might hurt you...I don't know why."

Serge allowed himself a laugh. "Sorry, mate," he apologized when Kid shot him a sharp look. "I just don't go down that easy. Friend of mine used ta think I slept with both eyes open, 'cause..." But Serge didn't finish the sentence, staring at something behind Kid. She turned in alarm, thinking there might be some sort of danger, but then she noticed the gravestone.

"Oh, yeah, about that—"

"Ye're...ye're DEAD, mate?" Serge asked her, bending close to the gravestone to get a better look. Kid chose not to reply, not trusting herself to answer. Serge read through the inscription a few times, then stood, looking at her. "Ya don't mind if I—?"

"Hey, ow!" Kid cried out as he gave her arm a quick pinch.

"Ya seem pretty damn alive ta me," Serge decided. "We'll figure this mess out, don't you worry."

"I guess we'd better head back to Arni for the night, then," Kid remarked.

Serge extended an arm towards the bottom of Cape Howl. "You know the way better than I do."

Kid started forward, but stopped, frowning. "For some reason, it feels like we've forgotten something..."

Serge thought for a moment. "Well, there was the bloke that pushed yer friend off the—"

"Leena! That's right!" Kid turned and rushed down towards the water.

A/N: Enter Serge. Oh, yeah—I only plan to have a few characters included, so I can deepen their emotions and problems more. It would be hard to chase after forty different characters...(what was Squaresoft thinking?)

Review Replies:

A Random Person: I'll explain in time. Don't wanna spoil it. It's pretty simple, though—a complete switch.

Starx: (total agreement) I'm hoping it'll go faster than this...hehehe... ;

Thank you for reviewing, but I'll still need one to continue.


	3. A Difficult Passage through Fossil Valle...

I'm sorry! I've just been stressed, damn school, science project, thunderstorm, lost the document, yadda ya. I figured I'd leave it alone, considering it's five chapters long, and then I looked and went "Only two chapters? What the crap?" So here's the third, and I'm sorry it's so late.

Chrono Cross Switcharoo

Chapter Three: A Difficult Passage through Fossil Valley

"Ow. Ow. Ow! Ow. Ow! OW!" Serge was groaning with every briar that popped out.

"You have to hold still," Kid told him, digging her elbow harder into his back. "This isn't going to work if you're jerking around the whole time."

They had just recently gotten back to Arni with Leena, who was unconscious and with the doctor at the moment. Serge, on the other hand, had taken a moment to rest—and sat down point-blank in a briar patch. So that was why Serge was sprawled over Leena's couch as Kid knelt beside him to pull out the painful things.

"Owowowow—careful!" Serge complained to her as she pulled insistently on a stubborn briar.

"I'm sorry, it just won't come—"

"THAT'S NOT BEING CAREFUL!"

"If you stopped squirming, maybe I could—"

"OW! Ow, ow, ow—ow! Bloody—!"

"Just a second, if I can twist it just a little—"

"Ye're TWISTIN' it!"

There was a clear, ringing pop as the briar came out. Serge let out a slow groan.

"There. That's the last one, okay?" Kid said to him, setting the briar on the tin with the rest and handing Serge a bottle of Tablets. "I'm going to check up on Leena."

Kid didn't have to go far before the doctor walked out, unhooking his stethoscope from his ears. "It looks like Miss Leena should be just fine," he said to them. "It's a wonder she landed on that plant, so she only has a few sprained areas. She should be fine in a few days."

"Good ta know," Serge replied, switching to a sitting position on the couch. He grimaced suddenly and struggled to find a less painful position, finally ending up in the exact same one as before.

Kid turned to him. "You know, Serge, there's this thing called a Tablet—"

"I know, I know," Serge said sourly. "I just don't like cherry flavored."

The alarm clock Kid had salvaged from her house went off at six that morning in the guest room of Leena's house, waking them both. As Kid yawned and stretched, Serge brought his fist down on the clock, knocking it off the table. When the thing continued its ringing, Serge sat up long enough to kick it into silence. "I liked that alarm clock," Kid told him indignantly as Serge turned over and went back to sleep.

Since Serge wasn't awake yet, Kid took the time to change and then went to the kitchen for some breakfast and a cup of coffee. As she did so, she debated with herself over whether she wanted to wake Serge up right after she ate, or right when they were ready to leave. But trying to imagine him grumbling about missing breakfast all day long was not a bright prospect, and so it was right after she had finished that she went back to the guest room and pushed Serge out of bed.

"Why do we hafta get up so bloody early...?" Serge muttered sleepily, rubbing his eyes.

"It's a two to three hour walk to Termina, and we have to get going," Kid told him.

"Oh," Serge said, remembering their decision to go to Termina the previous night.

He and Kid met Leena in the kitchen moments later as Serge drank several cups of coffee. "Termina," Leena repeated after Kid had explained the plan to her. "That's awfully far away..."

"We'll come back and let you know how it goes," Kid promised. "Then, if you're feeling well enough, maybe you could come with us."

Leena blinked. "Me? Leave Arni?" She paused to consider it. "That might be interesting. After all, I've never been any further from Arni than Opassa Beach. I'll let you know when you come back."

It seemed like days later that they reached Fossil Valley, the only route to Termina. "A nice, cool valley," Serge remarked, sliding his pack to the ground and wiping off the sweat that had come out onto his brow. "And no more bloody mosquitoes," he added.

"Oh, they were bothering you?" Kid asked him.

"Yeah." Serge gave her a funny look. "Weren't they botherin' you, too?"

"No, I used some of the formula that keeps them off. Some guy in Termina developed it a few years ago."

Serge sighed in exasperation. "Why didn't ya tell me ya had that kinda stuff, mate? Ya could've saved me a lotta hell..."

"Sorry, I just didn't think to. I thought you had some—it's pretty commonplace."

They continued along the route until they reached a pair of dragoons who were blocking the road. "Please turn back here. The Acacia dragoons are currently investigating the area."

"Oh, good," Serge muttered.

"They are?" Kid asked the dragoon, seeming strangely interested. "Hm, that's just too bad. I was going to meet a group of my roomies up in Termina." She pouted for a moment, but then seemed to spring an idea. "You know, it would be real sweet of you to let us past just this once?" she cooed coaxingly to one of the dragoons, clasping her hands behind her back and giving him a disappointed look. "We wouldn't disturb any your little investigation, and I'm sure I could bring a few of the girls back down here to meet you."

The dragoon seemed to be getting a bit excited. "Hey hey, Travis, let's let the girl past, eh? She can't do any harm."

"I...I don't know..." Travis was saying slowly, but he was blushing furiously. "U-um...sure...why not..." he said finally.

"Wow," Serge half-whispered once they were past the dragoons. "Just...wow. Do ya have any idea the kinds of places ya could get inta just by doin' that?"

Kid shot him a sharp look. "That was only to get us through here. It is not to be abused."

"Uh-huh." But Serge was grinning from ear to ear. "I'll let ya know."

They passed through the valley with little incident, but Serge put out an arm to stop Kid as they reached the end. "What is it?" Kid asked him, and then caught sight of the two dragoons up ahead. "Oh."

"Let me take care of this," Serge said to her, starting forward.

"No!" Kid seized his arm and pulled him back. "I think I saw a ladder a little way back. Maybe there's an alternate route."

"But don't ya wan—?" Serge didn't get to finish as Kid took his hand and led him swiftly back down the path.

They halted in front of the dragoon barring the ladder. "Now might be a good time ta use that sweet-talkin' from before," Serge whispered.

But that proved to be unnecessary. "Are you the exorcists?" the dragoon asked them, seeming somewhat shaken for some reason.

Serge frowned. "What's an—"

Kid brought her heel down on his foot. "Yes," she told the dragoon, "we are."

"Oh, good! We've been waiting for you guys." The dragoon gave her a closer look. "You seem a little young...but I guess that doesn't matter. Go right on up. The captain will tell you what to do."

Kid paused for a second, wondering if this was such a good idea after all. What if they were required to do something that they couldn't?

"Why'd ya hafta stomp so hard?" Serge whispered to her, his teeth gritted in pain.

"Sorry. I just needed you to shut up," Kid replied, and started up the ladder. "Yai!" she shouted suddenly as she felt a hand on her backside, and she turned to glare down at Serge.

"Whoops," Serge said simply, but he couldn't hide his devilish grin. "That handhold was a little warm."

"You're lucky I'm not going to kick you in the face," Kid muttered as she continued up the ladder.

They crested Fossil Valley's higher ground to see a group of dragoons at their work, but occasionally looking back in a panic as a low, windy moan came from the large dragon skull several feet away. The captain rushed to meet them, but not without one of these fearful glances. "You must be the exorcists. All we need you to do is get whatever's making that sound to stop, okay?"

It seemed like he was going to give them some other instruction, but just then one of the other dragoons called him over to inspect something. "I guess we're on our own, then," Kid remarked to Serge.

"I don't see how we'll stop it, though," Serge mused as they walked up to the skull. "There's probably a hole in that thing, so when the wind goes by it makes that sound. We'd hafta tear apart the top of the skull or somethin' ta get it ta..." But his voice died away as the sound abruptly stopped. Out of the dragon skull hopped a human one, for whatever reason wearing a clown hat and red nose. Its jawbone clacked against the ground between intervals before it halted in front of Kid and did its best to look up at her.

"Hmmm..." it murmured in a strange, dry voice. "Looks like you must understand what I'm going through. You're dead too, I get it?"

"Uh, no..." Kid told it slowly.

"Could've fooled me," the skull told her. "You believe what you want to, but I know we have something in common. Anyway, I wanted to ask you a favor—as two spirits in the wrong place?"

"Go on."

The skull let out a rattling sigh. "You might have noticed that I'm not really...whole...right now."

"Yeah...mate..." Serge told it dazedly. "Yeah...we kinda did..."

"I also can't remember anything." The skull seemed to frown. "Well...I do remember some kind of accident, but that was a while ago. I'm not sure how long. But I think if I start getting back my body parts, maybe I'll start remembering things." It grinned wryly. "And even if I don't, at least I'll have all my body parts again. So can you help me out?"

Kid exchanged glances with Serge—or, at least, she tried to. Serge was still trying to comprehend the enormity of the event. For whatever reason, the notion seemed impossible to him, but it seemed perfectly rational to Kid. "Yeah, I guess we could take you along. I don't know whether or not we'll find your body parts, though."

The skull let out a small hop and a clack that seemed to be an exclamation of joy. "Gee, thanks! Just be careful—I am kind of heavy, and I get nauseous if you swing me around too much."

"I wonder how he can get nauseous," Kid mused to herself as she set down her pack for the skull. She stood up, and immediately had to step back to avoid falling. "He wasn't kidding about being heavy!" she said to Serge as her companion stood up, still looking somewhat dazed.

Serge shook his head. "I just...can't understand that. So I'm just gonna put it outta me mind for now."

The captain stopped them as they headed back to the ladder. "Uh...how did you do that?" he asked them, and it was obvious that the question was the one at the front of all the dragoons' minds. But Kid only shrugged in response. "Oh." The captain seemed somewhat disappointed. "Do you...do you still have that...skull?"

"Yeah."

"Could I see it?"

Kid reached into her pack as a number of other dragoons began to form a crowd somewhat further away. She brought out the skull to face the captain, who winced at first, but then looked a little closer.

"Hi," the skull greeted him abruptly.

The captain let out a startled exclamation and stepped back, but he stepped forward again more slowly, laughing good-naturedly. "That's such a clever trick! How did you do that?"

Kid smiled mysteriously. "I didn't," she told him.

The dragoons backed away as Serge and Kid walked around to inspect the higher ground, but they found no such alternate route. "I guess we'd better go back down then, mate," Serge said. "Maybe those two've already run off somewhere."

"Wait a minute, what's that?" Kid asked, pointing in the direction of a colorful object somewhere further up the path.

Serge shaded his eyes against the sun to get a better look. "Looks like a bellflower ta me," he told her.

"It's pretty." Kid stepped over the spine of the dragon skeleton as she ascended the inclined ground. She knelt beside the flower, examining it more closely. It was a bellflower in its prime, its blue petals in the shape of a bell with its edges curled back just so, and a streak of violet at points along the edges. The stem was long and graceful, a pleasant green that set off the blue and violet, and its two long leaves delicately curved at the ends. It seemed almost a shame to pick it, Kid realized, being so beautiful and sustained in that environment—

"SQWAAA!"

Kid turned around with a gasp as a Dodo rose up behind her, its tiny black eyes narrowed in fury. "Hang on, Kid!" it sounded like Serge was shouting from below, his feet pounding against the rock as he rushed up toward her. Kid let out a scream and raised her right arm as the Dodo's beak came down, slicing several gashes in the soft skin of the underside of her arm.

"Ouch!" she exclaimed, reflexively seizing her arm with her other hand. She let out a pained hiss as the blood began to well up between her fingers. Above her, the bird screeched again and brought its beak down again, this time slamming into Kid's skull. Kid let out a cry and seized the place with both hands, throwing herself to the ground to try to escape any following blow.

The bird screeched a third time, but this one died away in a gurgle. Kid looked up to see the blade of Serge's sea swallow coated with blood, having gone through the Dodo's throat. He blinked and wiped away some of the red liquid that had splattered onto his forehead. "Ick."

Kid was looking at the bloodstained sea swallow, remembering that she had seen a bloodstained blade like that not too long ago. If only she could remember—

"You okay, mate?" Serge asked her, stepping down as the bird collapsed.

"I'll be fine, I think," Kid replied, assessing the damage done to her arm. The gashes didn't look terribly serious, and it didn't seem like the Dodo had struck any veins or arteries.

"Hold still a sec—this might sting," Serge told her, taking out a few pieces of cloth. Kid let out a few moans as he tightened them around her arm to control the bleeding. When he was finished, she checked her head for blood, and found a bit of it on her fingers. "Looks like it got ya there, too," Serge noticed, using a few additional cloths to wrap up that area as well.

Kid stood shakily as he helped her up and, almost as an afterthought, delicately plucked the bellflower from its place. She wondered vaguely what kind of harsh measures the flower had suffered in order to survive on such barren ground.

As it turned out, Solt and Peppor were still there when they got to the bottom of the ladder, and it was clear that Kid was in no condition to hold her own in a fight. "Don't you worry about me," Serge told her, taking out his sea swallow. "They're both bloody idiots, so it shouldn't be too hard ta kick their arses."

"No, I'll come with you," Kid told him. "I can cast Elements from the sidelines."

Serge frowned and shook his head. "That ain't gonna work. They're gonna come after ya eventually, and ye're gonna be like a sittin' duck. You just wait right up here."

"Hey!" Kid cried out as he took her by the waist and lifted her easily onto a ledge nearby.

"Okay?"

"Serge! Get me down from here!" Kid shouted after him as he shouldered his sea swallow and started toward Solt and Peppor. There was a pause. "You'd better come back!" she called sourly. Serge flashed an OK sign and disappeared behind a section of rock. There was a synchronized scream, and Serge returned moments later, looking bemused.

"What'd ya do ta those blokes?" he asked her.

"Virtually nothing," Kid replied.

Serge let out a low whistle. "That ain't what they thought."

Kid shifted to get into a better position. "So are you just going to stand there, or will you help me down from here?"

"Right, right." Serge approached her and, with the same lack of care as before, took her down from the ledge. "We oughtta get ta Termina pretty soon. I don't think it's that far off. And when we do, we're restin' there before we do anythin' else."

"Why?"

" 'Cause you had that little talk with the Dodo."

"I'm not hurt that badly," Kid told him, looking at her bandaged arm. "I think we could afford to get to the manor."

"Oh really?" Serge poked her in the arm.

"Hey, ouch!" Kid exclaimed, grabbing the place in pain.

"I think that just about settles it."

Kid glared at him as he started off for Termina.

"Well? Ya comin' or what, mate?"

"Wow," Kid remarked as they reached the steps that led into the port city. "This is much larger than Arni..."

"What'd ya expect? Another teeny little village?" Serge asked her, starting forward. But he halted abruptly and turned to look at the flower merchant nearby. The merchant was conversing with what looked to be a dragoon, or a Deva or something.

"...Yes, Karsh has been worrying me these past few days. You never know when those restless spirits might do something drastic. I hope he doesn't get himself hurt," the merchant said, frowning worriedly.

Kid's stomach plummeted with something like a dreaded recognition. "Karsh?" she whispered to Serge. "Wasn't that the—?"

"Shhh!"

"Well, I'll have to be getting back to Miss Riddel. That is, if you're certain you have no other bellflowers?" the dragoon asked her, his expression hopeful.

"I'm sorry, Glenn, but the men preparing for the festival bought a bushel of them. If I had remembered..."

"It's not your fault," Glenn told her. "Good day, then."

"Hey, wait a minute!" Kid called after him as he was leaving, but he was already out of earshot.

"What're ya doin'?" Serge asked her. "He's just a stupid dragoon, just like that Karsh guy. 'Sides, he probably just wants that flower 'cause he's in love with some lady." Something dawned on Serge then, and a slow smirk began to spread over his face. "He did say Riddel, right? She's the lady of the manor. He must've fallen for the lady of the bloody manor! What rotten luck."

"You seem happy about it," Kid noted sourly.

"Hell yeah! It's always funny when one of me enemies ends up in a hopeless case."

But Kid had just remembered the look of pain that had crossed Adam's face when Kani got so angry. "I don't know if that's fair, Serge," she said sharply. "Someone with a dilemma like that deserves encouragement, or friendly advice, or sympathy, at the very least. I know someone who's not necessarily the most faithful guy, but that doesn't mean he's something to laugh at."

Serge stared at her for a moment, seeing the determination in her azure eyes. "Whoa, hey, I didn't know ya'd take things so seriously. I just thought ya were angry at the dragoons right now, that's all."

"Okay, then," Kid let him off, releasing him from her gaze.

"So anyway, let's find a hotel or somethin' ta stay in tanight," Serge changed the subject, his eyes wandering over the different shops. "There's an inn right over that way," he told her, pointing to the door to their right.

"We can make reservations there. But first I want to look around a little," Kid told him.

"Do ya hafta? I have reason ta believe ye're cousin's gonna pound me if anythin' happens to ya."

Kid laughed. "Are you sure you're not just getting overprotective, Serge?"

"Well, no..." But Serge did seem to color a bit, for some reason.

"I'm not going to become an invalid just because I'm a little hurt. Come on, we can't just come here for business reasons," Kid told him. "Let's just look around a little. Unless you'd like to stay behind and fluff my pillows." Then she was off like greased lightning, heading past the element shop toward the merchant stands along the road. Serge followed her at a run, profanity flying faster than his feet against the road.

A/N (This DOES mean "Author's Note," right? I've seen a bunch of different stuff around...): Hopefully, things will go faster than this. I just have to eke out chapter seven, and then eight, and then nine, and stuff. And I have no idea how I'm gonna repeat all that stuff that Belthasar was talking about, cuz he talked for a frickin' long time! Oh, well... (shuffles off to play Chrono Cross again)

Review Replies:

Dai: I know, I know—I'm doing that! Leave me alone! (throws pillows) You hurry up and revamp that other chapter in Moribund. I can't believe what you did to Sora! (wails unconsolably)


	4. A Bellflower for Dario

Moi would have updated earlier, but for ze accursed project zat requirez mon constant attentionmente. But c'est la vie, non? Pleaze read and enjoy, mon cheri. (blows kiss in Serge's direction)

Serge: … (holds up restraining order)

Chrono Cross Switcharoo

Chapter Four: A Bellflower for Dario

Kid stopped short as a merchant stepped in front of her, one hand raised. "Don't be running around here!" the merchant reprimanded her angrily, setting her hands on her hips. "I have a very valuable collector's item under that glass, and you could have run into it! Try to be more careful, will you?"

"A collector's item?" Serge repeated. "Oh, puh-lease. I know you—ye're that merchant with the successful older sister, ain't ya? There ain't no way ya've got anythin' that great."

The merchant boiled. "Oh, yes I do! Look at this!" She pulled off the blanket over the glass to reveal a mermaid, her skin glistening in the sudden light. The mermaid shielded her eyes for a moment, and looked out at the two of them mournfully, pressing one hand against the glass.

Serge seemed to half-explode, but only on the inside. "Good ta know," he said darkly, and then pushed the tank over onto the ground, shattering it and sending water everywhere. The merchant let out a scream, but Serge was already moving, seizing the mermaid up in his arms and walking to the side of the road, which was spread across the water. "Hold onta yer fins, mate," he told her, and then released her into the water. She waved gratefully, and then was gone, swimming with the mermaid's typical incredible speed.

"How could you do that? Do you have any idea what that mermaid was worth?" the merchant demanded of him, seizing him by the front of his tunic. "I'm taking this to the authorities, mister!"

Serge pushed her away. "I don't care what that did to ya, but I know I hate it when animals like you take people away from their homes, away from their families…!" It seemed like a tear started in one of his eyes, but he blinked it back, and continued. "Ye're no more than a bloody poacher, ya hear me? That's why you'll never be as successful as yer sister! So you leave me alone about whatever that mermaid was worth in yer dirty money!" He turned his shoulders sharply, without taking his eyes off the flabbergasted merchant. "C'mon, Kid, let's get the bloody hell outta here."

"Wow, Serge, that was..." Kid shook her head, unable to express what she was trying to say.

"Foolish, stupid, childish, I know," Serge told her, leaning against the railing around the end of the road.

"No, Serge, that was brave," Kid told him. "I don't think I could've done that. You sure showed that idiot."

Serge smirked. "I did, though, didn't I?" he said slowly, rubbing his chin in thought. "I might wanna make that a habit..."

Kid elbowed him in the ribs.

"Ow!"

"You egotists and your swelled heads," Kid muttered, starting down the steps to the shrines.

Serge blinked. "What'd I say?" he wondered quietly, following.

But Kid stopped him before he could go much further. "Look—it's that knight again!" she alerted him, gesturing to the figures near a central gravestone.

Serge couldn't conceal a smirk. "And look who he's with! Let's get closer and see if he's tryin' ta—uh, why don't we see if we can help?" he said quickly, noting Kid's flat, unfriendly look.

"My sentiments exactly," Kid told him in a warning tone, continuing down the stairs.

"Hey—I'm getting a chill. Where are we?" the skull asked, trying to pop far enough out of Kid's pack to see.

"At the shrines."

The skull moaned slightly. "I've never felt comfortable around dead people." He paused for a while, but then noticed the look Kid was giving him. "Yes," he answered the unasked question, "I still consider myself as technically alive." He frowned then, or he seemed to. "This place seems familiar for some reason..."

"Maybe you lived here in Termina," Kid suggested.

"Termina? That sound familiar too...very familiar. Yeah, I seem to remember some things about it. Wait, stop!" the skull told her suddenly. Kid hesitated, looking around for whatever he might have seen. "This is where the priest sent my father out to the ocean," the skull realized, nodding in the direction of the ground to her left. "He died right after I finished school."

"We'll need to stick around here for a while," Kid told Serge when he caught up. "The skull remembers a lot of things from around here."

"Hey, I think I might need a little better distinction than that," the skull told her.

"We could call ya Skull, or Skully, or Skeleton..." Serge mused as they walked along the dry land to a place where they could better view the two figures. "I know! Let's call ya Skelly, short for Skeleton."

"That sounds familiar for some reason," Skelly told him.

"Small wonder."

"Shhh!" Kid hissed at them. Riddel, as Kid surmised the woman beside Glenn must be, had been silent for a time.

"So she was out of bellflowers," she said in a quiet, velvety voice. There was a touch of sadness on her features as she straightened the green dress that made her look very much like a bellflower herself. "That is unfortunate. But let us pray, nevertheless, even without them."

Glenn had been feeling uneasy for a short time, and now he was certain he could feel another presence behind them. "Hmmm...?" he murmured, his light-colored brows creased in a frown as he turned to see the two teenagers. He walked up to them, noticing the flower in Kid's hands. "Is that a bellflower you have there?" he asked her, taking a closer look at it.

"I think so," Kid replied.

"What's it ta you?" Serge asked in an unfriendly voice. Kid frowned at him.

Glenn looked confused for a moment. "I...did not wish to upset you," he said to Serge. "I will leave you alone if my presence bothers you."

"Well that's good, 'cause accordin' ta me, you can go stick your face in a—"

Kid stepped on his foot again. Hard. "You'll have to excuse him," she said to Glenn sweetly, casting a side glare at the grimacing Serge. "Did you need something?"

"Begging your pardon, would you be so kind as to give up that flower to us? We need one for our prayer," he explained. "I will pay you for it, if you so desire."

"No, you can take it," Kid told him. "I just found it not too long ago. If it's more important to you, then go ahead." She held out the flower.

"Are you sure?" Glenn asked her. Kid nodded. "I thank you deeply," he said to her, taking the flower delicately and returning to Riddel.

"Please let me offer my gratitude as well," Riddel told them, her eyes glistening with a sad kind of happiness. "The souls that rest beneath this sword loved this flower in life. That is why we always bring some when we pray here..." She took the bellflower as Glenn handed it to her, and bent to place it carefully on the gravestone. "Dario," she began, her eyes filling with tears, "here is a bellflower—that you used to love so much. Soon—" her voice cracked slightly, and she swallowed a moment before continuing, feeling the lump building up in her throat. "Soon, the flowers seeds shall sprout, grow leaves, and bloom flowers everywhere. And we shall age yet another year, while you remain the same in memory..." Her voice broke and she stood, brushing back tears. Glenn set a comforting hand on her shoulder, but she gently pushed it away. The hurt in his eyes was almost more than Kid could bear.

"Father...brother..." he murmured slowly. The words seemed to fit in with their mood, but they also seemed to hold some kind of weak plea, as though for strength, or for something else.

"It is such a mystery," Riddel said finally. "The sword never seems to rust, even when left in the rain. It is as though the souls of its masters live within it. Do you not think so, Glenn?" She turned to him with those words, her eyes holding an opaque hope.

Glenn's face was a mask of silence, as though he knew what she meant by that question. "Yes," he told her in what seemed to be a flat voice. "I have engraved in my memory the lives of my father and brother, who had both wielded the sacred sword, Einlanzer..." 'Or perhaps they have engraved them for me,' he thought to himself.

"Let us hope that is true..." Riddel whispered, placing her hands on his arm, as though for comfort.

Glenn gave her a surprised look. "What do you mean by that? Miss Riddel, I cannot allow you even to—"

"Do you not think there is something odd about the dragoons of late?" Riddel cut him off, spearing him with a penetrating look. Glenn's eyes dropped from hers. "Daddy's face shows such anguish," Riddel continued, "and even Karsh was saying he went out on a 'ghost-hunt.'"

Kid shivered, her stomach plummeting in realization.

"Miss Riddel..." Glenn began a second time, but it was clear that he didn't know what to say.

"Everyone has been acting oddly, ever since that beastly guest arrived at the manor," Riddel pressed on, her voice growing more fierce.

Serge took an involuntary step back, and shook his head firmly. No. That was not true. It had to be someone else at the manor—there were plenty of wealthy, influential demi-humans...

They hesitated a moment. "Glenn, promise me to always keep the unclouded truth in sight. Do not be swayed by the masses. The splendor of the Einlanzer must not be tarnished," Riddel told him, her eyes on the sword before them.

Glenn watched her for a moment. "As you wish," he promised solemnly, his eyes also resting on the sword.

Riddel kept her determined expression a few moments longer before her eyes filled with mirth and her lips quirked in a smile. Glenn looked at her swiftly as she let out a light, bell-like laugh. "Miss Riddel?"

"Forgive me," Riddel told him, controlling her laughing for a moment. "I just found it a little funny to hear you say such words." Then it was back again, the tinkling laughter that had adorned Glenn's childhood for so long, only this time filled out with the maturity of a young woman. He watched her again for a moment, his eyes twinkling softly and his lips turned in a quiet smile. But then he recalled his place, and cleared his throat officially.

"Miss Riddel, a chill wind has risen. Shall we return to the manor?" He offered her his arm.

"Yes, of course." The couple passed Kid and Serge on their way out, and Riddel nodded to them in gratitude.

"Uh—Miss Riddel, please go on ahead. I will catch up to you within a moment," Glenn told her. He turned to Kid and Serge when the lady of the manor was safely out of earshot. "You...weren't watching that, were you?" he asked them.

"No, no, of course not," Kid assured him. Glenn seemed doubtful, but he nodded to them in farewell, and followed Riddel out of the shrines. Kid frowned when they were both gone, folding her arms. It was pretty clear that Glenn was smitten with Riddel, but it was doubly clear that Riddel was either ignoring or discouraging his attempts to...was it...to take someone else's place? Kid wondered about that, but it was none of her business, so she soon discarded the idea. She turned back to Serge, who was watching the place where the mysterious couple had turned a corner.

"So dragoons're capable of compassion, too," he said slowly. "That's not a bet I would've taken."

"And who's going to make another foolish bet?" came a voice from nearby them. They turned to see a masked man with long, violet hair descending the steps to the house in the shrines.

"Guile!" Serge called to him, hopping over the small stream of water and going to his old friend's side. "Long time no bet, mate! How've ya been?"

"Fine, for the most part," Guile replied. "Winning a bet here, casting a trick there, and generally making enough money to live off of."

"Kid, this is Guile. He's an old friend of mine," Serge introduced him as Kid walked around to them. "Guile, Kid. We're travelin' tagether since some blokes from Viper Manor've been on her arse a little while."

"Viper Manor?" Guile repeated. "That's some coincidence; I'm also seeking something at Viper Manor, myself."

"Oh?" Serge prodded.

"Well, it has to do with a bet with the fortuneteller that...I'm not winning right now," Guile confided. "There's a certain item in Viper Manor that I'm expected to find by the end of the week. If I don't, then, well..."

Serge was smirking now. "If ya don't?"

Guile sighed. "I have to show my face to the fortuneteller."

"I wanna be around for that!" Serge told him. "This might just work out for us, if we can find a dependable boatman ta get us there."

"Maybe I can help you," someone said from behind them. It turned out to be a redheaded girl of about sixteen, with large green eyes and clad in a typical Guldove fashion. "I'm not exactly a boatman, but I've got a boat I can letCHA use." She turned to Serge. "I saw the way you let that mermaid go," she told him, putting her hands behind her back and twisting her shoulders nervously. "That was real brave of ya!"

"Thanks," Serge said to her. Kid shot him a surprised look, but he didn't see it. This was bad. Sure, Kid hadn't really thought about it, but she realized again that Serge was a good-looking guy. She might have to be more careful, unless she wanted to end up losing him to some blond-haired bimbo. 'You ARE a blond-haired bimbo,' her conscience reminded her. Kid began to develop a sour mood.

"My name's Mel," the boatgirl told them, extending her hand to Serge in greeting. "I'm pretty good at boating. Just don't ask me to fish, or I might hafta hurtCHA."

Serge looked up at the darkening sky. "Looks like we only have a few more hours of daylight, mates," he told the others. "We'll wanna leave tamorrow," he explained to Mel. "We're a little roughed up, and we need ta rest up some."

"Okay," Mel agreed. "I'll be right here by the shrines if you need me," she told him, waving.

"This spot looks kind of familiar," Skelly told them as they passed Lisa's shop. "It seems like I remember playing here..."

"A talking skull," Guile mused. "How very interesting."

"Yeah. That's Skelly," Serge told him. "We picked him up in Fossil Valley. He seems ta think Kid's dead like him 'cause...eh, well, I'll tell ya later when we have more time."

"Let's check the residences," Kid said to Serge. "There's still some light out. Someone should be up."

They checked the door to their right, and were greeted by a young woman who looked something like a nurse. "Well, yes, I care for the old woman who lives here," she answered Kid's question. "She lost her son a few years back."

Kid's pack shifted slightly, and she thought she heard a surprised cry.

"I didn't know him too well," the woman continued, her eyes strangely distant, "but I seem to remember he was a very happy man. He loved to laugh. I think he went away to be a clown." She shook her head. "I'm not really sure why I'm telling you this, though..."

Kid took a moment to consider that. For some reason, people seemed comfortable telling her about their dead. There had been Leena, Riddel, and now this woman. Perhaps it had something to do with the fact that she was out of place here, almost like an extra piece to a jigsaw puzzle. A piece that didn't really belong anywhere.

The woman frowned then. "I didn't talk to him much, but I think his name was Skelly."

"Wow. What're the odds?" Serge was saying several moments later, as they had bid the woman goodbye and started for the inn. "How often do ya find a skull, nickname him Skelly, and then find out his real name is Skelly? That's some coincidence. And after all, who names their kid something like—"

"Shut up," Skelly told him sourly. Serge did so, realizing he had touched on a nerve, and the rest of the short walk was spent in a thoughtful silence.

"You're in luck," the innkeeper told them. "We have one extra room. Just don't be frightened if you hear anything from the Porre in the room next to you."

"What do you mean?" Kid asked.

The innkeeper sighed, mechanically wiping off the countertop. "They've been gibbering on about that so-called hero living up at the blacksmith's. Even learned some special greeting from him. All they can do is bother me all day with it." She set a motherly hand on Kid's shoulder. "Just don't listen to either of them, dearie. There are some people in this world who couldn't recognize talent if it bit them on the nose."

The four of them entered the indicated room to find three, nicely kept beds and a surrounding countertop. "This is perfect," Serge told them, setting his pack down by the door. "Guile can take one bed, Skelly can take the other one, and Kid and I—"

"Don't even think about it," Kid told him sharply.

"That wouldn't work anyway," Skelly explained to him, having calmed down enough to be agreeable again. "All I need's a pillow. Are there extras?"

"Wait here," Kid told him, setting the pack down on one of the beds. "I'll ask the innkeeper."

It wasn't long before they were settled in, with Skelly turned toward the window on the pillow that he had requested to be placed on the windowsill. Kid slowly began to drift off, the rush of the waves against the beach echoing in her ears as seagulls circled above, cawing soothingly...

Author: Anozzer day, anozzer chapter. Mon intentionmente iz to continue in zis fashion of a chapter every ozzer day until such time az moi reachez chapter sept (7), by which time moi hopez to have prewritten chapterz for ze sake of convenience.

Review Replies:

Dai: (snatches pillows) Ne touches pas! And do not speak such of mon Serge comme ca! It iz MON mind which iz dirty. XD Moi haz reviewed ze new chapter, quite extensivemente if moi iz to say, so be satisfied wit' zat much for ze time being.


End file.
